Michelle Griffith, Minnesota Reformer

Minnesota Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in nearly 20 years, and a panel of past and present elected Republicans on Tuesday said that emulating President Donald Trump is not a winning formula — at least in Minnesota.

Trump has lost the state three times, so Trump’s bombastic and divisive politics won’t win statewide elections, said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty during a panel at a business summit hosted by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The goal for Republicans, Pawlenty said, is to find a candidate who can satisfy the right-wing base while appealing to Independents and moderate Democrats....

Seventh Judicial District Chief Judge Michael Fritz on Tuesday sentenced former Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, to a six-month jail sentence with eligibility for work release, meaning she can work outside the jail during the day and sleep there at night.

A jury found Mitchell guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools in July after she broke into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April 2024.

Fritz ordered Mitchell to serve her six months sentence in Ramsey County jail. Defendants are typically incarcerated where the conviction occurred — in this case Becker County — but Fritz allowed her to serve her jail sentence in her home county so she can participate in work release. Minnesota requires convicted felons to serve two-thirds of their sentences incarcerated, so Mitchell will be in jail for at least four months....

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Woodbury Democrat who was found guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools Friday, will resign from the Minnesota Senate by Aug. 4, her attorney said in a statement Monday

The first-term senator will resign no later than Aug. 4 at 5 p.m., once she finishes four tasks: completes outstanding legislative projects, wraps up ongoing constituent services, transitions legislative staff and obtains health insurance for her son, according to the statement from Dane DeKrey, who helped defend Mitchell during the recent five-day trial.

The unusual resignation announcement means Mitchell will continue to represent her constituents for up to two weeks as a convicted felon. It also means that Democrats will lose their one-seat majority in the 34-33 Minnesota Senate until Gov. Tim Walz calls a special election to replace her....

DETROIT LAKES — The felony burglary trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, has revealed police missteps in the investigation into the alleged April 22, 2024, break-in of her stepmother’s home.

Nicole Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024, in Detroit Lakes after police found her in the basement of the home owned by Carol Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell’s stepmother. Nicole Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools.

Police failed to seize several pieces of evidence from Mitchell and mishandled a crowbar that is the source of one of the felony charges. These mistakes may not amount to much for some jurors, but they only need to find reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s narrative of what happened to find Mitchell not guilty....

Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their golden retriever Gilbert will lie in state on Friday at the Capitol. Rep. Hortman and her husband were killed on June 14 in a “politically motivated assassination.”

Hortman will be the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol. The public may pay their respects from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, the office of Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday.

A private funeral will be held on Saturday, but it will be livestreamed....